28 January 2011

11 January 2011

Press Releases

Valuing the savanna: Products from savanna generate 39 percent of total household income in Northern Benin (West Africa)

Frankfurt am Main, Germany, October 25, 2011. The West African savanna is like a supermarket, pharmacy and hardware store where no one has to pay for the goods, because its biodiversity is a free source of food, materials, firewood and traditional medicine. According to a study by the German Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), the value derived from the savanna amounts to 39 % of the average annual income of a rural household in northern Benin. The authors of the socio-economic study, which has been published a short time go in "Ecological Economics", also found that poorer households are the more dependent on savanna biodiversity than wealthier ones.

The Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations (CBD) and most recently the TEEB ("The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity") study have made point of making people aware that one can measure the amount of economic contribution nature and environment make to society. Scientists from the German Biodiversity and Research Centre have now analyzed the value of the savanna in Northern Benin and determined how much income is generated by so-called non-timber forest products (NTFP). These include fruits, seeds, and edible parts of plants, herbs, leaves and fibers. One of the best known are the seeds of the Shea butter tree, which fat is an ingredient of skin care products and is used in the kitchen. Another well-known NFTP are the fruits of the baobab tree, which are processed into juices and sweets. Both products are also available in Europe. For the locals in Benin, NTP’s help to fulfill households’ subsistence and consumption needs, are traded and thus provide cash income and serve as a safety-net in times of crisis.

Large part of income is savanna-sourcedAll of the 230 households that were interviewed for the study are engaged in the collection of non-timber forest products. 80 per cent of the households also trade them. While the extraction yields comparatively low returns to labor, extraction sites are mostly categorized by open or semi-open access and only few skills are required for extraction. NFTPs are therefore widely used as a source of income. Katja Heubach, lead author of the study and researcher at the German Biodiversity and Climate Centre (BiK-F) says: "With an average income share of 39 %, income from non-timber forest accounts for the second largest share in total household income. It is only surpassed by the income from crop production. Based on national statistics we determined the per capita income of a person in Benin to be roughly two Euros a day. 80 Cents of this would be a monetary surplus generated by non-timber forest products."

Wealthier households are less dependent, but profit the most The researchers found that the economic significance of non-timber forest products differs between households with regard to their total household income. The lower the total household income, the higher the share of income generated by non-timber forest products i.e. the higher the relative dependency on savanna products. In quantitative terms, however, households with a higher income gather more non-timber forest products than those with lower income. Wealthier households therefore benefit more from non-timber forest-products and generate higher yields by them than poorer households. The researchers suggest this can be attributed to the fact that poorer households with no land often face longer walking distances to places where they can legally harvest non-timber forest products.

Further restrictions of access to savanna woodland likely to increase povertyThe value of an intact savanna has thus been proven, but keeping its balance intact is likely to be difficult in future due to increasing population sizes. Traditionally the region operates on a cycle where land may lie fallow after cultivation. In case of pressure for agricultural land due to a larger population, fallow periods might get shorter and wild savanna plants would have less time to grow. Furthermore the demand for non-timber forest products is set to increase which might result in overexploitation. The researchers recommend increasing the efficiency of crop production systems and creating robust income opportunities (subsistence-wise and trade-wise) independent of non-timber forest extraction to satisfy the needs of a growing population. Further restrictions on access to savanna woodland are not considered appropriate measures of conservation, because its effect would likely hit poorer households the hardest and increase poverty.